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Hope in 2010

2009 was a year of many firsts. It was the year that a one-term freshman senator from Illinois with as much political experience as a one-term freshman senator from anywhere was sworn into an office ordinarily reserved for the more experienced. Even Ronald Regan with all his acting chops trumped our current president’s experience with at least a gubernatorial position.

And boy, did our choice show. While no one can fault Obama for the mess he inherited, he has been spending like a nuevo riche Powerball winner. Among his dalliances were a Wall Street bailout that cost $700 million, a $787 billion stimulus bill he signed into law and a health care bill that experts say will drive our debt into the trillions. And we all know who is ultimately going to pick up that tab. The Democrats may have criticized Bush’s spending, but Obama makes him look miserly by comparison.

It was the year when senators and congressman could openly be bought off to get a bill to pass. Backroom deals are nothing new except that this wasn’t in any backroom. It was out in the open, and it is all so disheartening. Politicians once used to cower and lie to hide any evildoing. Now they are out in the open as if it is normal, which for many of them it is.

I too thought that things would be better by now, but with the unemployment rate in the double-digits and Diamond Jim signing us deeper into debt, it seems that the change we were looking for may be further off than we thought and that our plane is going to land in Bangladesh rather than Oz.

Still, we are a people of hope, aren’t we? After all, we’re the ones who elected the freshman senator from Illinois. We’re the ones who acquired the land from all those other countries and engaged in Westward Expansion many years ago by hook or by crook. We’re the ones who by hook or by crook will rebuild after we’ve been torn down. Hope is within our spirit.

It was the year that a frumpy, middle-aged Scotswoman trudged on stage amidst catcalls and jeers on Britain’s X-Factor and belted out “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables.” Susan Boyle’s confidence and rendition of that song silenced and stunned her critics. Here was a woman with the fight of a tiger and the voice of a dove who gave hope to any wanna be who ever spent years toiling away after a dream. Here is the poster child of hope for us all.

It was the year the Palestinians and Arabs moved forward with their PR campaign to vilify their neighbor on a parcel of land about the size of New Jersey. They are a smart lot, though, and their campaigns have started to take root in other Arab conglomerates like England and France.

But things turn around, and hope is all we haves. Otherwise, how could we get out of bed each morning to face another wonderful day?